Railroad Workers Take Contraceptive Coverage Battle to
Court

In the federal suit filed in Portland, Oregon, the
women alleged the company violated a section of the US
Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlaws discrimination
based on gender or pregnancy, according to a Reuters
report. About 5% of Union Pacific’s 48,000 employees are
women.

“There’s no use having prescription drug coverage
if it singles out prescriptions that are unique to
women,” one of the three named plaintiffs, Jackie
Fitzgerald, 37, of La Grande, Oregon, told Reuters.
“While I’m spending $38.99 a month at the local pharmacy
for oral contraceptives, my male co-workers are
contributing to their retirement funds.”

The suit also seeks reimbursement for prescription
payments as well as punitive damages, claiming the
company ignored requests for coverage. The suit also
names as a defendant the United Transportation Union,
which represented all three women.

Union Pacific said its health care package does not
shortchange women, noting that it declines to cover
treatments not deemed medically necessary, such as
vasectomies for men, cosmetic surgery, fertility
treatments or many weight-loss procedures. Lawyers for
Planned Parenthood, who are leading the plaintiffs’ case,
rejected the notion that contraception was not medically
necessary for women, who otherwise face unwanted
pregnancies.

According to Planned Parenthood, 20 states now
require private insurance coverage for contraception.
Union Pacific, which is self-insured, is not bound by
such laws.

The contraceptive coverage issue is hardly a new
one – being the subject of numerous lawsuits in the last
several years (See
Cover My
Pills
).